My tips for living happy, healthy, and green!

Category : Being Active

Today is my Arm Circuit day. I have decided to try to switch up how I workout to try to block against a plateau and to keep myself from getting too board. I enjoy running outside, but get board extremely fast running on the treadmill. So I have been adding some circuit training at least 2 out of the 5 days I workout. My circuit training is not any special workout plan, it is just a list that I have put together myself to keep my heart rate up and all my muscles working.

100 Jumping Jacks

20 decline push ups (feet on BOSU ball)

15 Burpees with BOSU balls

15 bicep curls (with 12lbs dumbbells)

25 Jumps Ups (jump onto 4 high step with both feet)

15 tricep dips

High Knees for 45 seconds

20 Hammer Curls (with 12 lbs dumbells)

50 Jumping Jacks

20 Tricep Extentions (with 10lbs dumbbells)

25 Jumps Ups

20 Rows (with 12lbs dumbbells)

15 Burpees with BOSU ball

15 Straight Arm Raises (15 front, 15 side with 5lbs dumbbell)

45 sec High Knees

Depending on how much time I have after this I will possible run a couple miles on the treadmill and then as always 10 minutes of stretching! Try it out and let me know if you enjoy this circuit.

I have come to the realization that is time to take charge of my life and I what I want out of it. I know what I want and now is the time to stop making excuses and make things happen. Good in theory but much harder to do in practice….but hear it goes. Time to make 2012 My Year! So one thing I am going to do is take charge of making this blog awesome!

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I feel like I have finally found my passion in life and it makes me feel so good! When I am talking about your passion is life I mean other then family and being a mom of course! My family is my number one priority and love in my life. I am talking about something for me so that I feel good about what I am doing and that I can actually impact the life of others.

My passion is health and wellness. I want to help teach other how to life healthy lives through diet, exercise, and overall well being. It amazes me more and more each day how much people do not know about his subject. I am trying to find new ways each day to help others. Since I am a stay at home mom I am trying to find ways to do this while still staying home with my son. The first thing I did was become a Shaklee Distributor, and now I am starting to run for different causes. This is a great way for me to promote exercise and raise money for different causes that I believe in. My next goal is to become a certified personal trainer so I can assist people in there journey to becoming healthier.

This summer I am running a 10K race to support the Lincoln Park Zoo. I feel strongly about supporting this Zoo because it is free to the public. It is a place where families can go and enjoy time together and not have to worry about how much money it is costing them. If you would like to run for this cause you can check out the United Run for the Zoo 2011, there is a 5K or 10K option. Or if you would just like to donate please visit my donations page.

The second run I am doing this summer is a half marathon on August 28th to support Cal’s All-Star Angel’s. Cal’s Angel’s was start by a family that lost there 12 year old son to leukemia. The mission and purpose – granting wishes and providing financial assistance to kids fighting cancer and their families – continues Cal’s legacy of always caring about others above anything else. Having a son of my own makes me think about how hard it would be if he were sick and inspires me to help Cal’s Angels so they can help others. I am running the Peapod Half Madness on Aug 28, 2011, if you would like to run click here or to donate click here.

I encourage everyone to really think about what they feel strongly about and go out there and do something about it. I feel so much better about myself doing something that I am passionate about and I get to help others as well.

One of my favorite TV shows to watch is TLC’s What Not To Wear! As I watching the show the other night it really hit me how much taking care of your outer appearance can you help you feel better about everything in your life. I watch the show all the time, but this episode really made it hit home how much it can affect you. The lady on the show had completely changed her life for the better…stopped drinking, started spending more time with her family, lost like 40lbs, and was training for a marathon, but she still looked and seemed sad. After the makeover she just looked and felt so much happier.

That night I started thinking about what I do in the days that I feel the best.On the days where I feel really energized and happy I take time to get myself ready for the days…

I workout, shower, get dressed in clothes that I feel good about, put on some makeup, and actually do something with my hair other then a ponytail. Taking the extra time in the morning to do these things makes the rest of my day feel better even if I am just staying at home playing with my little guy. I know from watching my Mom and from being a new Mom myself that you can get caught up in just taking care of everyone else, but in order to do that better we need to take care of ourselves as well.

As many of you out there my plans for the new year include health and fitness. My goal is to finish loosing the weight I put on having my baby boy (almost there!), tone up, transform our diet to a 75% raw diet, and run a half marathon by July!

For the fitness/weight loss:

Spend 1 hour 5 days a week at the gym. My gym workout includes 20-30 mins of cardio and then 30 mins of free weights. I usually rotate weights from upper body, abs, and lower body. To get more time running to prepare for running a half marathon I am going to begin to rotate a day in where I do cardio for the entire hour. Since I get bored easily I try to rotate the way I do my cardio….treadmill, track, elliptical machine, Arc trainer. Then I use free weights and different exercise balls for my strength training. I also enjoy throwing a day of yoga into my workout.

For our diet:

I am slowing trying to convert most of our diet to raw fruits and veggies. I am learning different ways to do this. It takes a little getting used to. I have spent my whole life thinking that things need to be cooked to be the main part of the meal. I am starting by making a smoothie for breakfast, fruit or veggie snack, salad for lunch, carrot juice snack, and a dinner consisting of at least half raw veggies.

Other 2011 goals:

Get better at keeping in touch with friends that are not local.

Get my personal trainer certificate

Take one class towards becoming a registered dietitian

Spend more time working on this blog!

Build my Shaklee business

Here is to a great 2011 where life may take us! Good luck to everyone with there New Years resolutions/goals.

I want to be a wonderful mom, loving wife, great friend, helpful daughter, fun sister, and overall I want to be a good healthy person. But sometimes I need to step back and get perspective. I want to feed my family a healthy organic diet and do it on one income. I want to get myself back into pre-pregnancy shape. I want to have a healthy clean home, with no harmful chemicals. I want to go back to school.

I just have to remember that I can’t do all this at once. It is going to take time to change habits, work on a new budget, loose weight, and get things in order to go back to school. I have to remind myself that I am not superman…although I wish I was sometimes Its ok to have a cookie once in awhile, to not clean the house and play with the baby all day instead, and it is going to take time to get back into shape. Patience is not my strong suite but I am working on it.

There is some much pressure in the world to be on top of everything, look great all the time, and be as close to perfect as possible…but I think sometimes the biggest pressure is put on us by ourselves. My family and friends are not the ones looking for me to be perfect…I am the one who wants to be perfect for them. I don’t need to compare myself to others, I need to focus on the wonderful things I have in my life and slowly work towards my goals…pushing myself too hard and expecting too much just sets myself up for feeling some sort of failure.

I hope other women out there will remember that the ones who really love us don’t expect us to be perfect…its not possible! Remember to take time each day to be thankful for all that you have and look at the beautiful things around us.

This morning was a wonderful morning for a jog or a walk. While I was out on my jog/walk this morning I was thinking about how much I enjoyed being outside getting some exercise. There are so many wonderful benefits to heading out for a jog each day. Each morning I pack up my little guy and usually one of my dogs and we head to the park for a jog. My little guy is now 13 weeks old and because I had a c section I have now been able to get back into exercising for the past 7 weeks. I started out walking and jogging in around my house, but just couldn’t get motivated. I figured out that in order for me to get the full benefits of going for a run, I need to be someplace where I enjoy running and where there is more nature. Living in the suburbs of Chicago, I make due with a nice park where there is a running trail goes through some woods, along a small lake/pond, and through an open prairie area.

My favorite things about my morning jog:

Fresh Air/Nature: I love being outside! I am from northern Michigan and am used to spending a lot of time outdoors in the woods or on the beach. Each morning as I go to the park for my jog I get to enjoy a little piece of nature in the city. I get to see the trees, smell the fresh air, and enjoy the sunshine!

It clears my head: Its a great way to clear my mind and focus for the day. I don’t usually listen to music on my jog, I like to just enjoy the peace and quiet and think about life. Like this morning I just think about how enjoyable my jog is, other days I think about what I want for my future and my family, its a great time to think.

Exercise: We all know its good for us to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least 5 days a week. This is an enjoyable way to get mine. I am also still working on getting rid of the baby weight so its a great way to do that as well. Staying healthy is very important to me. I like seeing the other people along the way doing the same thing. It makes me feel good to see people of all ages, shapes, and sizes out there getting there exercise!

Whether you are able to run, jog, or just walk I encourage you to find a place that you enjoy going and spend some time getting healthy! Try it for a week and see if you feel better about yourself, have less stress, and just feel better in general!

Here is a list of of : (From Discover Health http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/ten-fitness-facts-women-should-know.htm)

Ten Fitness Facts Women Should Know

Getting in shape? Learn 10 fitness facts that will help motivate you to get moving.

Fitness Fact 1. Studies have suggested that walking at a brisk pace for three or more hours a week can reduce your risk for coronary heart disease by 65 percent.

Fitness Fact 2. About 25 percent of American adults — and an even greater percentage of women — are sedentary. After age 44, upwards of 30 percent of women are sedentary, and by age 65, the proportion increases to almost 35 percent. By the time they reach age 75, about 50 percent of all women are sedentary.

Fitness Fact 3. Only about 22 percent of American adults engage in regular, sustained physical activity for at least 30 minutes five times a week, and only 15 percent exercise both regularly and vigorously.

Fitness Fact 4. No matter how poor your current level of fitness, you can start an exercise routine and become fitter and healthier. Even 90-year-old women who use walkers have been shown in studies to benefit from light weight training.

Fitness Fact 5. Simply adding movement into your daily routine can increase your level of fitness. For example, if you park in the last row of the parking lot and walk briskly five minutes each way between your office and your car, walk up and down the stairs at your office during your 10-minute afternoon coffee break, and walk the dog for 10 minutes when you get home, you’ve racked up 30 minutes of exercise for the day.

Fitness Fact 7. Fitness consists of four components: your body’s ability to use oxygen as a source of energy, which translates into cardiovascular fitness; muscular strength and endurance; flexibility; and body composition.

Fitness Fact 8. To address all the components of fitness, an exercise program needs to include aerobic exercise, which is continuous repetitive movement of large muscle groups that raises your heart rate; weight lifting or strength training; and flexibility exercises or stretching.

Fitness Fact 9. Walking at a brisk pace (a 15-minute mile or 4 mph) burns almost as many calories as jogging for the same distance. The benefit of jogging is that it takes less time to cover the same distance and it benefits the bones; however, it may be too strenuous for some.

Fitness Fact 10. It takes about 12 weeks after starting an exercise program to see measurable changes in your body. However, before 12 weeks, you will notice an increase in your strength and endurance.

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